Ayomide O. Tayo republishes and misattributes my photos

Imagine my delight: I lazily type 'Nigerian lorry art' into the search window of Google News. – Yes, I was stuck and needed a moment's diversion. – And, there is actually a rather recent article that comes up. 7 October 2016. Amazing, I think. Something I can use in my write-up maybe?

Now imagine my disappointment when I click on the link to find this:

The Nigerian Coat of Armsin Maiduguri, Nigeria: One of my photographs misattributed by Ayomide O. Tayo of the Pulse NG

This is one of my photos that I took in Maiduguri in 2008. It's one of those that I posted on Flickr because I thought it'd be nice to contribute to the group on African truck art there. Only, it is not attributed to me but one 'Tropicaliser.'

Of the six photographs in the article, four are mine. I have posted all of them on Flickr and/or Animus. And all have been misattributed. 

Old Cowboy in Kano: misattributed by Ayomide O. Tayo of the Pulse NG

Rambo in Kano, Nigeria: misattributed by Ayomide O. Tayo of the Pulse NG

Eagle in Blue in Kano, Nigeria: misattributed by Ayomide O. Tayo of the Pulse NG

This gets me. I don't mind my photographs being used. I only like to be acknowledged as their source. – And, I really resent that my photograph is attributed to somebody else. Look, the other photograph by Mike Blyth is most likely from the African Truck Art pool at Flickr. So, if you've been there – how come you misattribute my photographs?

So, let me clarify something: I don't mind my photographs – or, indeed, anything I post here – to be reused. I don't even mind a newsoutlet (is that what Pulse NG is?) using it, even less a Nigerian one. I just think its good manners and indeed a matter of professionalism for journalists to mention your sources (with the obvious exceptions that don't apply here). And, yes, I expect you to get that right (more or less, at least, we've all been guilty of the odd typo here and there). I may want to use these photographs somewhere some day in a publication – and, I don't want some misattribution to muddy the waters on who has the copyright for them.

So, here are the links to my Flickr and Animus albums of photos of decorated lorries I have taken in Nigeria (both of which, Flickr and Animus I neglected while I was off).

Flickr

Animus

In a sense this is timely. Only the other day I posted bits from an article on copy right in Nigeria that I found in West Africa magazine. Sigh. And, yes, I am currently resentful. Which is why I only give you the link to said article in Pulse NG down here. Not that it adds much to anybody's knowledge of Nigerian lorry decorations. Which annoys me even more.

"We can pick up any book published by any foreign author and reprint and adapt it to our society"

This is interesting. Although, admittedly, I cannot quite put my finger on why I feel that way about. I really feel that there is something here that could feed into one or the other argument I should be making. Right now, though, I can't quite figure it out. So, here I drop it.

The co-author of The Making of A Nation – Biafra, and chairman of the Fourth Dimension Publishing Company, based in Enugu, Anambra State, Mr. Arthur Nwankwo, has called on the Federal Government to withdraw its membership from the World Copyright Association. He said the withdrawal would help Nigeria conserve her foreign exchange and the huge amounts paid as royalties to multinationals in buying copyright. Mr. Nwankwo argued that knowledge was not a property of any race or country. He stated, "We can pick up any book published by any foreign author and reprint and adapt it to our society". He said he was in support of Government participation in the book industry, because it has the capacity to compete with the multi-nationals, who he said, flood the country with bad books that are responsible for cultural degeneration in the society. Mr. Nwankwo said that the Federal Government should have the courage to censure such books and control the rising cost of books artificially created by the multi-national corporations. The FDPC chairman alleged that multinationals still infiltrate all the ministries of education throughout the country and therefore controlled what the people learnt in schools. He stated that the effect of the Federal Government indigenisation programme has not been felt in the publishing industry. This unhealthy situation would be rectified if the Federal Government encouraged indigenous publishing companies by giving them soft loans and by participating in joint publishing venture with them, Mr. Nwankwo stated.

(West Africa, 7 July 1980, p. 1255)